97B doesn't like 10 rounds

[Roscoe2212]

I have just got back from CGW my 97E- fabulous! people at the range were coming over and telling
me " great shooting, etc".  All in all, could not be happier.
One thing I have noticed is that the pistol does not want to accept a mag if loaded to 10 rounds, I
wind up shelling one off the clip, and then it goes in fine.
Is this due to newness?  Springs in the mag not worked enough?

[Litomysl94]

I have the identical problem.  CZ told me on the phone to load/unload/reload the mags repeatedly and/or leave the mags loaded with 10, and the springs will stretch, hopefully solving that issue.  I will admit that doing those things did nothing for me, I tried.  My 97B's mags will seat with 9 rounds, not 10.  I guess I can insert mag with 9, chamber a round, and if I really want the 10th round, I can drop the mag and add a round.  I don't really care if I have the full 10 rounds in, and I generally don't like the idea of dropping a mag to add an extra round.  Maybe there's a work-around with shortening the springs, but I just haven't been brave enough to go that route either.   

[Roscoe2212]

Glad to hear you spoke with CZ.  I notice the 10th is always tight to load, so maybe leaving them loaded will do it.  I am like your situation, 9 is no biggie

[Grendel]

If you have the slide locked back, will the full magazine go in? My Glock 20 can be like that too unless I have the slide back.

[Joe L]

Mine is something like 8 years old and I only have two factory magazines, which are still hard to load the last of ten rounds.  If I have the slide back when inserting the magazine, the magazine will lock in place, no problem.  It was a bullseye gun so I only loaded 5 rounds at a time, most of its previous life, so no problem.  I never tried to do anything about it, and I'm so used to the 10th round being tight now that I revert back to 2x5 loads now anyway, and that matches the box rows so I can keep track of the round count per target easier anyway.

Short answer, it will loosen up a little bit from new, but some difficulty on the 10th round will always be there, at least in my experience.

Joe

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

It will loosen up but  the 10th round will go in and the mag will go in the gun you just need to give it a firm shove. Mine was that way for quite some time before it loosened up.

[tdogg]

The nose of the bullet hits the underside of the slide when seating the magazine.  If it has 10 rounds in it it is trying to compress the magazine spring past the point it is stacked (fully compressed).  I'd load your magazines with 10rds and let them sit for a while to help break them in.  I ran my 97BD in competition for years, full magazines are stiffer to seat but it is possible.

The other thing you can do to make it easier to load and keep clean is wax your magazine tubes (inside and out) with your favorite carwax.  It will make them really easy to load and keep clean.  It will also help them feed properly.  Just wax them like you would your car.  This may help when trying to seat a full magazine too as all the rounds are moving when the top bullet hits the slide?

Cheers,
Toby

[Roscoe2212]

Thanks Toby, I never cease learning here

[pcar157]

The nose of the bullet hits the underside of the slide when seating the magazine.  If it has 10 rounds in it it is trying to compress the magazine spring past the point it is stacked (fully compressed).  I'd load your magazines with 10rds and let them sit for a while to help break them in.  I ran my 97BD in competition for years, full magazines are stiffer to seat but it is possible.

The other thing you can do to make it easier to load and keep clean is wax your magazine tubes (inside and out) with your favorite carwax.  It will make them really easy to load and keep clean.  It will also help them feed properly.  Just wax them like you would your car.  This may help when trying to seat a full magazine too as all the rounds are moving when the top bullet hits the slide?

Cheers,
Toby

That's why Mec-Gar sells mags with their "anti-friction" coating.